Blue Note Records – The Book
A beautiful illustrated history of Blue Note Records, entitled Uncompromising Expression will be published in November. The beautiful 400-page hardcover book celebrates over seven decades of extraordinary music, and Blue Note’s ongoing commitment to “Uncompromising Expression,” the tenet set forth by founder Alfred Lion, a German immigrant who came to America to pursue his dreams and his love of music.
Tracing the evolution of jazz from the boogie woogie and hot jazz of the 1930s, through bebop, hard-bop, the avant-garde and fusion, to the eclectic mix Blue Note releases today, the book also narrates a complex social history from the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany to the developments in music and technology in the late 20th century. Featuring classic album artwork, much of it by Reid Miles, unseen contact sheets and photography by Francis Woolf who ran Blue Note alongside Lion, rare ephemera from the Blue Note Archives, commentary from some of the biggest names in jazz today, and feature reviews of seventy-five key albums; this is the definitive book on the legendary label.
Written by Richard Havers, who last year wrote Verve: The Sound of America, Uncompromising Expression has forewords from Wayne Shorter, Robert Glasper and Don Was, the current president of Blue Note Records.
The book is available to buy here.
UK English
